La Tâche, Domaine de la Romanée Conti 2022

Here the highly expressive nose could be accurately described as fireworks in a glass with its wonderfully floral nose and while I'm not sure quite how it's possible, the equally dazzling aromas are even spicier than those of the Richebourg. The opulently rich and voluminous broad-shouldered flavors are blessed with an abundance of sappy dry extract that also serves to buffer the even firmer yet finer tannins supporting the massively long and overtly mineral-driven finale that is slightly less austere than it typically is. This is quite simply brilliant. Drink 2042+.

The 2022 La Tâche Grand Cru is the most complex and compelling wine in the range at this early stage. Wafting from the glass with aromas of sweet red berries and plums mingled with rose petals, orange zest, exotic spices, incense and wintergreen, it's full-bodied, rich and layered, with a deep and pure core of fruit, lively acids and sweet, powdery tannins, concluding with a long, gently oak-inflected finish. It was harvested the fourth through the sixth of September, just after the Grands-Échézeaux, and bottled in March 2024.

An electric magenta colour. The bouquet can only be La Tâche with the freshly dried rose petals and the tell-tale stems completely surrounded by the perfume of the fruit. This meant several minutes of smelling before I felt ready to allow my glass of La Tâche to approach the mouth. So many wavelets of fruit that the preceding wines seem simple (which of course they aren’t) in comparison. As fine a young La Tâche as I have tasted. Effortless, endless. Drink from 2038-2055. Tasted May 2025.